TASTY HEALTHY SNACK

 EARLIER I DECIDED NOT TO WRITE A BLOGPOST TODAY!

I changed mind today mid-morning. My actions depend upon my mood and situation. I had to use some leftover raw vegetables, a good recipe idea with them popped up, also had the willingness to share the recipe with my readers. Though starting late, I can have the satisfaction at the end that I listened to my heart. Until your heart asks you to be unfair to others, listen to it. I was out since noon to the afternoon, roaming locally from the market to the mall, buying this and that. It keeps me calm, also the walk. Keeping your mind occupied with something constructive is necessary. With a support like Cristine, I can venture out anytime. But you have to hold your anger because she would only inform you about the things required at home when the bottles are totally empty, be it a dishwashing liquid or detergent or room freshener. As you all know, when she is around, I am lost in my own world.

SIMPLE BUYS & MEALS MAKE ME HAPPY!

I truly mean it. If I calculate too much, I feel unhappy. If I spend too much, I get tensed as I always advocate the need of savings in life. I do talk about my beliefs to the son but in my own style because our unique son keeps to himself. That is the reason why his mamujan gets supremely happy when he talks unlimited, be it about a project. Mumma keeps asking if he has talked to B Aunty, Dimma, Dadu, Thamma, Piya & Her's. Mumma keeps telling this is his family, he needs to be in touch with them regular. Mumma is in a hurry to tell him many things, she doesn't know why. Mumma is unable to decide what feeling is stronger in her; the pain & worry of living far from him or the happiness to see him enjoying his academics at this time. Yes, his father and I like it that he enjoys the American higher education pattern. Trying to be positive, mumma buys a Nivea body spray, a Himalayan pain relief balm, this and that.

I am not curtailing my daughter-in-law's expectations exhibiting these general brands. Strong odours are not for me, I stick to certain brands. I have no fascination for expensive brands. I don't crave for things others have. I would be happy if the daughter-in-law does not turn out to be a spendthrift, I live to see that or do not. She has to take the baton from me, nurture this family with care, value the hard-earned money of her's, her husband's. Meanwhile, like my predecessors I happily engage in the kitchen; cook a spicy lentil soup for the man & myself on a Sunday night. I enjoyed it with chapati, the man with butter toasts.

On some days, I eat some roasted nuts, my body does not require the oil, fat from the nuts regular. They are good but not for everyone. Never knew my system would get such weak this early.

WHAT IS TASTY HEALTHY SNACK?

I had little of cut bell peppers left in the refrigerator, I had to use them in order to avoid wastage. Throwing away vegetables bought at a price is wrong, I witnessed such wrong practices in certain homes. At first, I thought of an Oriental stir fry but did not wish to have noodles or rice in the afternoon. I had two biscuits with tea in the morning, a small bowl of "Aam-Muri" in the mid-morning. Hence, a plate of vegan, gluten-free, oven-cooked TASTY HEALTHY SNACK in the afternoon was just perfect. This easy, quick,  vegetarian delight using minimal oil made me feel guilt-free, content.

I kept one for Cristine, one for the "papor" eater man and had four, suited my tastebuds.

Few other snacks recipe from the Blog are DHUKI PITHA-IN AN URBAN HOME, FRESH CORIANDER APPE, DRIED METHI FLAVOURED MADAN KOTKOTI, DALDAR LUCHI.

INGREDIENTS :

GREEN BELL PEPPER : 1/2 OF ONE

RED BELL PEPPER : 1/2 OF ONE

CARROT : 1 SMALL SIZED

ONION : 1 STANDARD SIZED

GREEN CHILLI : 1

FRESH CORIANDER : A SPRIG

OATS : 3 TBSP

CORNFLOUR : 2 TBSP

CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 1/4 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 2 TSP

PROCEDURE :

Peel the carrot, onion; cut into smaller cubes. Discard the root end of the coriander sprig. Wash them.

Discard the stem ends, seeds of the bell peppers, cut small and wash. 

Wash the green chilli, discard the stem end.

Take all of them in a hand mincer, mince well, transfer to a bowl.

Add the oats, cornflour, oil, salt, crushed black pepper to the bowl, mix well.

Grease an oven proof plate with a bit of oil; shape the patties as you want and place on the plate.

Mine is a convection mode microwave oven. I placed the low height stool inside, atop it the plate.

I cooked 12 minutes one side using the grill+microwave [combo-2] mode. I turned over, cooked the other side for another 10 minutes.

I thoroughly enjoyed the crisp snacks / appetisers.

It took about 40-45 minutes from start to finish.

BANANA COCONUT CRANBERRY CAKE

I THINK I MAKE DECENT BASIC CAKES!

I had been baking for long, yet could not grasp every aspect of it, could not master the art. What I do is take small steps, keep myself limited to simple bakes. It can be a basic cheese rice, a homely pizza, a baked roshogolla, basic cakes on a regular basis. Honestly, most in the family would want to have roshogolla as it is. Looking at the baked roshogolla in the Kolkata sweet shops, I feel averse towards the thick cream thinking of the amount of sugar involved it. Meals consisting of rich meat & fish curries, richer sweets, desserts, biryani, ghee pulao sounded alluring even few years back. These days they cause me fear, neither I crave for such meals. This is a caution I wish to preach which is not hatred towards any faith or religion. A bowl of choice fruits, low calorie tiffins, light fish and chicken curries, homemade breads, a small bowl of rice, rustic vegetables bowls of choice are good enough for me. I wish the son to accept and enjoy chirer polao, idli, dalia khichuri, semolina upma kind of meals. I understand he has a career to build, a crucial exam to cover with good scores, yet I am worried about his health, he sources every meal from outside. His father and I at least stay together and have an asset like Cristine to look after us.

I HAVE MADE LITTLE CHANGES IN MY EATING PATTERN!

At this time, I am not doing intermittent fasting. I suffered bloating. I am eating smaller meals every 2-3 hours of intervals. At this time, it is helping me a bit. Today since the morning until now I had one cream cracker biscuit with tea [not in picture], then had 2-3 tbsp of muri / puffed rice soaked in water [not in picture], thereafter I had a small piece of cake with tea, thereafter lightly made beaten rice upma. At night, I would have a normal Bengali meal with small amount of rice, Hilsa fish curry, Spinach, Red Lentils Curry! 

Our yesterday's lunch was Bengali meal with Chicken Curry, Yam with Prawns, Dal for me. At night, I cooked Whole-Wheat Flatbreads, had with Eggplant Bharta. 

Today's blooms made me feel happier, a green corner is therapeutic.

WHAT IS BANANA COCONUT CRANBERRY CAKE?

I bake with few ingredients I have in the kitchen. The other day, I had to use up some leftover shredded coconut and cranberries. I thought of baking a vegetarian cake with them. I had bananas too which are good   for making a cake moist. From this thought, this vegetarian easy bake BANANA COCONUT CRANBERRY CAKE was born. Baking it was hassle free. I do not experiment with ingredients much, specially in case of bake. You all may have noticed I keep the measurements of the primary ingredients for baking a cake same in each case, this helps me not to fail with the recipe, waste the ingredients used. I wished to share a vegan & gluten-free cake for the occasion of Thanksgiving but it did not happen. This time I did not think much before giving shape to my plan for an easy bake. I wanted a sheet pan like cake look, hence used this tray for the bake.

Few other baked goodies from my blog are VEGAN & GLUTEN-FREE BAKED TIKIA, CRISPY BAKED PASTRY SHEET ROLLS, BLUEBERRY CARDAMOM BAKED DOI, STOVETOP SUJI APPLE CAKE

INGREDIENTS :

SELF RISING FLOUR : 1 COFFEE MUG [Instead You may mix together 1 coffee mug refined flour, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/3 tsp baking powder]

PLAIN YOGURT : 4-5 TBSP

BANANA : 1 STANDARD SIZED

SUGAR : 5 TBSP [I USED BROWN SUGAR] [YOU MAY NEED MORE]

DRIED CRANBERRY : A FISTFUL

GRATED COCONUT : 4-5 TBSP

VANILLA ESSENCE : 1 TSP

OIL : 3-4 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

I blended together the plain yogurt, sugar, oil, banana. 

I took the self rising flour in a bowl, pour the wet mixture on it, mixed well.

I added the grated coconut and dried cranberries to it, mixed, beaten well.

I added the vanilla essence, beaten again for 2-3 minutes. Our cake batter is ready.

Mine is a convection mode microwave oven. I inserted the low height wired stool, pre-heated the oven at 160*C.

I greased the oven tray with oil, poured the batter on it. I tapped it lightly on the kitchen counter, then placed it atop the wired stool.

I closed the oven door, baked the cake at 160*C for 30 minutes.

Having the cake fresh would get the best taste.

 

COOKER MADE CHICKEN CORIANDER STEW

 I LIKE THIN CURRIES USING MINIMAL SPICES!

For that we need fresh, good quality meat & fish varieties. We get freshest of the sea fish varieties in this island. Growing up having fresh water fish, I find sea fish smelly. I could still eat pomfret cooked by the mother, mother-in-law with lots of onion, garlic; since my pregnancy I cannot tolerate the smell of pomfret, instead started to love the small & tiny fish varieties I looked down at once. Mixed vegetables cooked with tiny prawns or deep fried Mola or Amudi Mach / fish can satiate my fish cravings, I do not need fleshy varieties. The man cannot have meals only with smaller varieties of fish. We respect each other's choices. We have not forced upon each other our respective family's preferences. We have built our home taking the good things from both sides. I never tried to feed the son my choice of bony fishes like Baby Carps, I feared to. His generation want boneless, fleshy meat, fish on their plates. At some point, even a decade back I liked to have cheesy stuffs in the restaurant. I remember, on our tour of Australia, I did like baked Salmon, that was only in 2015. Today, I cannot have such a meal, I may just order French fries or fruit filled crepes, butter corn cups, veg wraps, fried chicken, end variety of breads with Tahini & humus. As I say, every restaurant, hotels can provide me boiled potato, butter, a green chilli, salt and rice; no worries, we need to pack our bags just. That would happen once our son gets settled in life. Have roti-sabzi on tours, not Maggi soups please, that's too unhealthy!

I WOULDN'T DISCLOSE WHERE I WENT THIS MORNING!

Not everything is to be made public, not many would have interest in minute details of your life. I went out for some work, once it was done, I had a mushroom soup with garlic bread. 

Intermittent Fasting is not happening at this time, I am requiring to eat a little something in the morning. I did not understand the garlic bread slices would be this thick, one was good enough for me. The moment I saw the cream of mushroom soup was not freshly made but cut and served from a big packet, I got disappointed. The payment was made, I had to have. My lunch was washed puffed rice and beaten rice with an amriti / jangiri! I had few pieces of chiku / shabeda / sapota thereafter, a much loved fruit! If I over eat a little bit, I am having severe stomach issues these days. They say we should never fill our stomach full, they are right. Life is tough for food reviewers, not an easy job, health is at risk. We shouldn't criticise. Age does not allow me to be sarcastic these days. If you do not bother me, I wouldn't. I am pretty much occupied with the thought of the son's future, his health, safety and security.

Below are semolina nagori, a puffed bread variety from the Delhi side of India may be. I have learnt about it recently. I wish to blog about it after practicing few more times, there are a couple of existing recipes in the internet. We had the specialised puffed breads with air-fried potato!

My entire body and mind is demanding sleep, I decided to write a blogpost instead. Let us proceed towards the closure of this post today!

WHAT IS  COOKER MADE CHICKEN CORIANDER STEW?

I am extremely fond of fresh coriander, it's aroma is one of my mood enhancers. I love to add it in this recipe and that. Earlier, I have cooked  chicken with fresh coriander paste, I have a blogpost about it too! In the past few months, I came across light chicken stew done with  soft chicken meat, various spices, fresh coriander paste. One of those reels is of my favourite Bollywood choreographer, film director, producer Farah, I like this talented girl, her struggle to reach this fame definitely involves talent, such versatile she is, I like her bubbly self! I wanted to prepare, blog about this non-vegetarian, gluten-free, lean meat curry COOKER MADE CHICKEN CORIANDER STEW with potatoes. I am not fond of using a pressure cooker, I believe it spoils the taste of food. However, it is useful for the working men and woman. It is good for boiling tough vegetables, also for making stews and soups.

Few Light Stew recipes from the Blog are EGG STEW, STEWED RICE, BEET GAJOR ALOO DIYE PATHAR MANGSHO!

INGREDIENTS :

CHICKEN : 1 KG [I USED KAMPONG / COUNTRY CHICKEN]

POTATO : 2

FRESH CORIANDER : 250 GM

PLAIN YOGURT : 50 GM

GREEN CHILLI : 7-8

SLICED ONION : 2

GARLIC PASTE : 2 TBSP

GINGER PASTE : 2 TSP

CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 + 1/2 TSP

LEMON JUICE : 4-5 TBSP

CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 1/2 TSP

BAY LEAF : 1

CINNAMON STICK : 2 ONE INCH SIZE

GREEN CARDAMOM : 2-3

BLACK CARDAMOM : 1

CLOVE : 3-4

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 2-3 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Get the chicken cut from the vendor, small or medium, skin on or off as per your choice.

Wash the chicken pieces well, marinate with enough salt for an hour, wash again.

Marinate the chicken pieces with little salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, lemon juice. Keep aside for 40-45 minutes.

Wash and discard the root end of the fresh corianders, prepare a paste together with the plain yogurt, 4-5 green chillies.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker, temper with a big black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon sticks, bay leaf.

Add the sliced and washed onions, fry until golden brown.

Add the ginger-garlic pastes, 1/2 tsp turmeric, salt, fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add the cumin and coriander powders, stir cook for a minute. Add the marinated chicken pieces.

Stir fry at minimal heat for 3-4 minutes, add 3-4 slitted, washed green chillies.

Loosely cover, cook until water starts releasing. 

Peel, cube, wash the potatoes, add to the chicken. 

Add the fresh coriander, green chillies, plain yogurt paste too. Mix well, add two coffee mugs of water, fold in well.

Close tight the pressure cooker lid, cook at minimal heat up to one whistle, switch off the gas stove. 

After 10-12 minutes, open the lid, enjoy it hot and fresh with steamed rice or roti!

TANGRA MACH ALOO EGGPLANT CURRY

 FOR LONG I DID NOT BLOG ABOUT A HOMELY BENGALI RECIPE!

I am craving to trust me, just not happening. These days, I do not have rice meals outside of home. I prefer having rice with family Bengali dishes. I have a couple of recipes to share from the family kitchen. What stops me may be the brother and his nephew's, our son's apathy towards rustic, homely food, be it Bengali or otherwise. The man would eat what appeals his tastebuds, he has no interest in food. My two sisters, the father-in-law, brother-in-law would eat normal Bengali Food. One of the two sisters, my brother's wife cooks well Dalia Khichuri, Chana Curry, I like. The mother-in-law is interested in big fleshy fish, hates vegetables, has no interest in the huge repertoire of rustic Bengali vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. If you want to have them, visit my mother's, the late maternal grandmother's, the father's side of the family living in various parts of Assam & Nadia district of West Bengal. My side of the family would get you unique recipes with "kharkol Pata, Shapla, Shaluk, Ol er Data, a variety of greens"!

I FEEL IRRITATED WHEN BENGALI FOOD IS IDENTIFIED WITH BIRYANI, MAHI POLAO, CHINGRIR MALAIKARI THESE DAYS!

It is such a dishonour to our granny's kitchen, the huge treasure trove of recipes they got from the other side of Bengal. I do not believe the original residents of West Bengal ate big prawns, bhetki fish, luchi, mohon bhog regular, that potato was the only vegetable they ate. My family doesn't consider potato a vegetable, its used as an enhancer in curries, in mixed vegetable dishes. What got pathetic with me is the unavailability of my kind of fresh sweet water fish in this island. I used to be a fish lover, I want supply of smaller varieties of sweet water fish, fresh, live. I have no interest in sea fish varieties. What to do? I would make fritters instead of fish curries with my rice plate.

I love fries & fritters / bhajabhuji / snacks with my tea / coffee or rice and dal.

WHAT IS TANGRA FISH ALOO EGGPLANT CURRY?

I rarely get this small fish variety fresh in this island's wet markets. When I see, I buy though it is difficult to cut the friskers with scissors, knives. The Bengali shops stock frozen fish packets, I do not buy except few varieties. On days I get my choice of sweet water / fresh water fish in the market, I would buy, clean, cut them, cook a choice of fish curry like this TANGRA MACH ALOO EGGPLANT CURRY. This non-vegetarian, gluten-free fish curry with rice would I enjoy having. 

Few other regular Bengali Recipes from the blog are FULKOPIR DATA PATA DIYE BHETKI, CABBAGE FRITTERS / BADHAKOPIR BORA, CHOLA NARKOL DIYE KOCHU SHAAKER GHONTO, MISHTI CHIREY BHAJA

INGREDIENTS : 

TANGRA MACH [SMALL FRESH WATER CAT FISH VARIETY] : 300-400 GM

POTATO : 1

EGGPLANT [SMALL] : 2

SLITTED GREEN CHILLI : 2

NIGELLA SEED / KALOJEEREY / KALONJI : 1/4 TSP

BAYLEAF : 1

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP

CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1/2 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 3 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Ask your vendor to clean the stomach of each fish, cut the friskers, tail end. This fish does not have scales. Wash them few times. Marinate with salt, turmeric.

Cut the potato, eggplants, lengthwise, thin. We need not peel the skin of the potato. Wash them, marinate with salt and turmeric.

Prepare a spice paste mixing together the remaining turmeric powder + red chilli powder + cumin powder + coriander powder + required amount of salt + 1 tbsp water.

Heat oil in a wok. Fry the potatoes, eggplants, Tangra fish, each variety  in batches, take out.

Temper the remaining oil with the bayleaf and nigella seeds. Give a stir, add the spice paste. Stir cook at low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add 1 coffee mug of water.

Bring the gravy to boil, add the fried potatoes and fried fish, also the washed & slitted green chillies. 

Simmer at low heat for 5-6 minutes, covered. 2-3 minutes before taking down, add the fried eggplants. Stir, take down!

Enjoy with steamed hot rice. We also had tomato-red lentils, mutton curry, cabbage-potato sabzi Bengali style on that day.

ALOO OATS CORIANDER TIKKI

A CHOICE OF SNACKS MAKES ME HAPPY!

I feel happier when food tastes better than expected. We have Bengali's Shyama Puja, Hindus' Diwali celebrations on 31st October, Halloween    is celebrated on the 31st of October. This is pretty challenging, which recipe to share? Bengalis would prefer hotchpotch with vegetables, puffed bread with halwa or mutton curry with pilaf. Diwali observants wouldn't even touch garlic, onion. I could have shared a sweet recipe that would perfectly suit the South Asians, then how can I ignore the Halloween observants? Our boy has affinity for skulls, skeletons ever since tween hood. I don't know why. Ghosts are usually friendly towards me, my family though I am extremely scared of them. We like some specific sweets, do not want them regular on our plate. We are aging, also tastebuds don't remain the same always. Then what to cook and share? Let us come to it later!

LOVING MEALS ARE SIMPLE IN OUR LIVES!

I cannot cook just for the blog share anymore, we must be able to eat what I cook. I dislike wastage of food, I do intermittent fasting, the man & Cristine eat minimal, the son left home few years back. Hence, I need to be tactical while planning and executing a recipe. I can't eat something I don't enjoy. Snacks I love, more ever since I have learnt to use minimal oil. Learn to cook your pakora using minimal oil, eat with less of guilt. 

However less I cook, there are leftovers. I have to manage them well, right? I made two small parathas from a leftover dough, served them with egg curry to the man. A snack added completed the meal plate, we cannot have a bird's diet, please. I had my meal with leftover rice. Last Saturday, I cooked my choice of dishes, my tummy is satiated. I am extremely occupied. Just now, had some electrical works done, I have to clean the dusty rooms now. It is Dipaboli after all, no corner of your homes should remain dark, mind it.

WHAT IS ALOO OATS CORIANDER TIKKI?

Now you all know I had little of paratha dough, little of cooked rice, lot of cooked food on a Sunday morning, a Kalipujo cum Diwali cum Halloween friendly recipe to share with my readers on Monday. What to share became a big question. I was sure it wouldn't be a sweet, we still have narus I made on Lakshmi Puja. Aloo is a love we have at home all the time, how harmful it is depends upon the amount of it's consumption, do not overeat anything, not only potato. I stock oats at home for these purposes, to use as an ingredient for snacks and sweets. I like overnight oats but I do not have breakfasts. This vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian snacks, starter ALOO OATS CORIANDER TIKKI tasted great. It was cooking without any effort, you give it to me everyday, I would have with my tea or coffee. I used only few spices, confidently can challenge Japanese potato croquettes, such bland the latter is. If you deep fry them, they would get a nice even brown finish, I preferred to go healthy.

Few Oats recipes from the blog are EASYMADE FRAGRANT SWEET, BANANA ORANGE OATS CAKE, OATS MATAR GREEN KEBAB.

INGREDIENTS :

POTATO : 2-3

OATS : 3-4 TBSP

CHOPPED CORIANDER : 3-4 TBSP

CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 1/2 TSP

RED CHILLI FLAKES : 1/4 TSP

CRUSHED BLACK PEPPER : 1/4 TSP

TANDOORI MASALA : 1/2 TSP

LEMON JUICE : 1 TBSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

CHOPPED DRY FRUITS OF CHOICE : 1 TBSP [I USED RAISIN & WALNUT]

OIL : 1 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Check the stepwise photos column wise!

I peeled the potatoes, cut each into 4 pieces, washed them. I took the potato pieces in a saucepan, added enough water and microwave cooked at low heat until they are boiled well.

I let the potatoes cool. I drained the water and mashed the potatoes. I added all of the ingredients except the oats to the boiled and mashed potatoes. I washed the chopped green chillies, fresh coriander leaves before adding.

I mashed well, added the oats. I folded in well, shaped as I wished.

I greased an oven proof plate with oil, placed the kebabs on it. Mine is a convection mode microwave oven. I placed the low height wired stool inside, atop it the oven proof plate.

I used the combination cooking method, grill+microwave; cooked one side for 15 minutes, the other side for 10 minutes. 

Serve and have them immediately with your choice of condiment.

KULAMBU SPICED OVEN COOKED FULKOPI

 I AM UNWELL SINCE THE MORNING!

I woke up with a blocked forehead and pain. I thought  my blood pressure may have gone up or down. Jokingly, I told the man, "if there is a sudden heart failure, you and the son would stay together, not far from each other." Though anyone can go through a heart failure any time, we have to stay healthy. Though I have lost weight, I am an overweight, I dislike heavy workouts. It is scary how my brother, his wife, some friends allow themselves to put on weight. I keep warning Bhai & son. Later in the day, my nose got blocked, I kept sneezing. I understood I have caught cold. Both of us feel that we had covid flu, may be it had low impact because of the vaccines and the boosters we have taken. Earlier Bengali Kids were fed mutton leg soup to strengthen immunity. The mother fed us regular. The man says Covid happened, we did not understand. On Lakshmi Puja day, I felt dehydrated in the evening. I was thirsty, had chilled water. Perhaps that is the reason I am unwell. We are managing our home well but we do not want to, we are used to a luxury called Cristine. I complain about the son not calling us enough, now can feel it is difficult to do all by himself after being pampered by mumma & Cristine didi until age 18. He had the courage to say goodbye to the safe, secured mumma's lap, step into an unknown land alone. Yet, I told him to set aside 1-2 hours every day for home cleaning. Even if I have fever tomorrow, I have to keep my home clean, I cannot sleep in a messy home. 

UNWELL, I DID SET A SIMPLE LUNCH BOX!

I prefer packing the lunch box. On the Lakshmi Puja day, I asked him to eat out. Yet, it took long hours to finish the puja. Separating the husk from the Khoi / popped rice, dressing and frying five varieties of vegetables take time. Kolkata sells de-husked one too at a higher price, I do get that. Feeling unwell, I made the quickest sandwich for the man, boiled potato in microwave, peeled mashed with butter, salt, black pepper powder, placed atop a bread slice with cheese.

In a hurry, I forgot to discard the bread edges. I make them eat food without much of wastage. Certain middle class values should be imbibed within us forever. Okay, licking fingers after meals is bad manners, I am helpless, I end my meals with a clean plate, lick my fingers. I made semolina toast for myself, I thought I clicked, now cannot find.

WHAT IS KULAMBU SPICED OVEN COOKED FULKOPI?

I was to share a Bengali tiny fish recipe of choice today. Something did not feel right about it. I had a cauliflower / fulkopi / gobi resting in the refrigerator, I forgot to bake it for the visiting friend last Saturday. I did a marination mainly with Kulambu Spice Mix, cooked this vegan, gluten-free, vegetarian appetiser, side dish using the microwave+grill option. I named it KULAMBU SPICED OVEN COOKED FULKOPI. It is time consuming but uses less of oil. We can call it healthy. I started to write late today, let me wrap up quickly. It is not a compulsion, I enjoy writing a blogpost in this era of "reels". I lack technical knowhow, also got busy watching son's activities in social media. Of course I am proud about the good things he is doing, it is natural.

Few other cauliflower recipes from the blog are; FULKOPIR DATA PATA DIYE SHUTKI, DIM FULKOPI CURRY, FULKOPI ALOO DIYE KOI MACH ER JHOL. 

INGREDIENTS :

CAULIFLOWER FLORET : OF ONE STANDARD SIZED

KULAMBU SPICE MIX : 1 TSP

CUMIN POWDER : 1/2 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1/2 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1/4 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1/2 TSP

LEMON JUICE : 2 TBSP +1 TBSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

SUGAR : 1/2 TSP [YOU MAY SKIP]

CORNFLOUR : 1 TBSP

OIL : 2 TBSP

PROCEDURE :

Wash and soak the florets in hot water for half an hour. Drain the water.

Marinate with the spices, cornflower, salt, sugar, 2tbsp oil, keep at rest for an hour.

Grease a grill plate with few drops of oil, place the marinated cauliflower florets on it.

Mine is a convection mode microwave oven. I placed the low height wired stool inside the oven, place the grill plate on it.Close the door. 

I cooked at microwave+grill option for 20 minutes one side. Turned the cauliflower florets thereafter, cooked for 10 minutes.

Take out and have immediately if you are eating it as a starter, appetiser. I had to refrigerate. We would have it tomorrow with hand rolled bread. I can get you more of recipes if I am alive, it got pretty hot, but Kulambu mix is a wonder spice blend.